


The Story

by LinksLipsSinkShips



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Honestly this one mostly just hurts, M/M, Past Lives, Suicide, Teen Pregnancy, Transphobia, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23397511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinksLipsSinkShips/pseuds/LinksLipsSinkShips
Summary: They've been together in a lot of lives. Maybe they'll even be together in the next one.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	The Story

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, and I'm afraid that's just the way the world works  
> It ain't funny, it ain't pretty, it ain't sweet  
> Oh, and I'm afraid that's just the way the world works  
> But I think that it could work for you and me  
> Just wait and see  
> It's not the end of the story
> 
> -The Story, Conan Gray

She was perfect. In every way, Link was perfect. She had shoulder-length dark hair that flipped outward at the ends in the cutest way, and her smile lit up with sharp pointy canines. Rhett might have even drowned in those beautiful blue ocean eyes. Each one of those things added up to make her the most beautiful woman Rhett had ever seen. She was a piece of art.

Not that it mattered.

People only ever picked up on her flaws. Or, what they considered flaws. Her awkwardness, sure, but also her height, and the way she’d been born. No one was good to her, except Rhett. Nobody cared about her, except him, not in the ways they should.

Even as Rhett wiped her tears and held her close, he knew he couldn’t undo the words people said to her.

He couldn’t undo the hate she faced, either, nor could he fix the target loving her placed on his own back. They’d been spat on. They’d been cursed at. They’d been tormented.

They’d tried.

They’d tried to make everything work, to dream of an escape someday, to shut out every hurtful word, every part of the pain they felt.

But sometimes that wasn’t enough.

Sometimes it wasn’t enough to try to shut it out. Sometimes the hate was too intense, the pain too much. Link had tried for so long and she’d tried so hard, but every single day, Rhett watched her go from blossoming to shattering, could see the red lines on her thighs as she tried to cope. He watched her break when she was told to get out of the girl’s bathroom. He watched her pinch the skin on the inside of her wrist as yet another person called her by the wrong name, the name that no longer fit her, that never really did to begin with.

She laid in the grass, on the blanket he’d laid out for them to lay on. “If I die, don’t let them bury me with my old name or my old clothes,” she’d told him.

Rhett had shaken his head. “If you die, I’d die. Link, there’s no life without you.”

Him saying that was enough, really. Him saying he’d die if she did was enough for her to know she couldn’t take it anymore, and enough for him to know he couldn’t live without her.

One letter, begging them to honor who Link really was.

Two bullets and a pair of flashes.

And one final thought:  _ I hope we’re together in the next life after this one. _

* * *

Link dangled his feet in the water and glanced up at Rhett. “You ever believe in past lives?”

“I dunno, man. Maybe. Why?”

“No reason. Just feels like I’ve known you longer than I have.”

“Longer than first grade?”

“Yeah, Rhett. Maybe longer.”

Rhett smiled and sat down next to Link. Link was his best friend, and even as Rhett felt the tug of something deeper, he knew they could never live like that. Not in North Carolina. Not here, not now, not like this. So he kept that secret deep inside of himself, wishing he could drape his arm around Link like they were something more than friends.

But that was unattainable.

Rhett knew that.

Link grasped Rhett’s sweaty palm, fingers entwined as he looked up into Rhett’s big green eyes. “Ready?”

“Heck yeah, man. Let’s do it.” Rhett raced toward the bank, Link running alongside him, and Link felt free. He felt happy. They could do this. They could… touch like this. He hoped. They broke the surface of the water, jumping in, and Rhett let go of his hand. Link’s toes touched the silty bottom of the river, then he kicked his feet until he broke the surface, laughing as he waited for Rhett to breach the surface, exhilaration in his veins.

Link laid in bed next to his wife, staring at the ceiling. He’d been having these dreams for months on end, maybe years. Him and Rhett. Rhett and him. Running toward the river, diving in, coming up for air, and after that, kissing. Kissing in ways he had always wished he could’ve kissed Rhett, hands founding his sides, tugging Rhett to the banks and laying in the grass to keep making out like they started. But that wasn’t how it went. Rhett was across the country. And Link was here. They hadn’t even exchanged texts in weeks.

Listening to his wife stir beside him, Link thought _ I hope we’re together in the next life after this one. _

* * *

Link looked at his best friend as she grazed her fingertips over his black eye. “Well, if your parents are gonna be assholes about it, maybe we could just run away then?” He entwined his fingers with hers. “Come on. There’s no reason to stay here, RJ. We could go.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should get jobs. Work and save and then run away. I think we could have a better life if we did.”

RJ shrugged. “Yeah. I’m in. Anything to get out of here. Anything to get away from them.”

RJ had been struggling with her family for months. She’d been kicked out of the house more times than she could count, and Link’s mom put her foot down at having a girl stay over. Nevermind that she hadn’t exactly defended him from his stepfather. Link was running out of options. He hated RJ’s parents, and he hated his mom for not letting RJ stay, and more than anything, he hated his stepdad. They deserved better, and he was sure they could get better. If only they could get away.

Link stared out the window of their studio apartment, ignoring the dishes piled in the sink. RJ was screaming at him, but he was tuning her out. They’d fought every single day this week. Maybe leaving didn’t help. Maybe home wasn’t the problem anymore. They were out of money. Link didn’t even know how they were going to make rent that month.

RJ held her stomach, looking down at it. This wasn’t the way she wanted to bring a baby into the world. They didn’t even have money for a crib. In days, they’d probably be out on the streets. None of it was fair. She loved Link with every fiber of her being, could have sworn they would be together forever. Could have sworn they  _ had  _ been together forever. Eternities maybe.

But the stress was killing her.

This wasn’t working, and it broke her heart.

She’d promised herself they could do better than their parents, their evil parents who didn’t look out for them.

Things had been better for a while. Now? They were tragic. She went to the bedroom and pulled out her suitcase and started layering in clothes.

Link didn’t move. Link stared out the window, heart broken. When he finally stood up, she was at the door with a full bag. “So that’s it?” he asked, tears in his eyes. “You’re leaving?”

“I can’t do this anymore,” RJ said. She shrugged. “I’m sorry, Link. I’m gonna go stay with my aunt.”

Link nodded slowly. “I love you,” he told her. “I’m trying. I love you.”

“I know.” But sometimes trying wasn’t enough.

RJ pulled the card out of her postbox. She already knew what was inside, taking it in to her son. “Your dad sent a birthday card.”

She had tears in her eyes as he opened it, reading it to himself. “He sent $50 this time,” he said, smiling at her. “He says he hopes you’re okay and to give you a hug from him.”

RJ missed him so much. Maybe in another world. Maybe if things hadn’t been so desperate, or maybe if they hadn’t been so young.

RJ sat down at her desk and started to pen a letter, writing to the love of her life, the one who got away. She scrawled out a page detailing their lives now, how much she wishes they had a second chance, an opportunity to try again. She looked at it, tears dripping on the page and blurring the letters. And when she tucked it into the drawer of her desk, she wished she had the courage to send it, to let him read the final line of that letter, but she couldn’t. _I hope we’re together in the next life after this one._

* * *

Rhett stood in front of the class, nervously shifting back and forth between his feet. He glanced up at Ms. Locklear, wondering if she was really going to make him introduce himself. Apparently, she meant it. “Um… hi. I’m Rhett. I just moved here, and I’m excited for us to have a good school year.” He hoped that was enough. Taking his seat next to a boy with brown hair, he glanced over at him.

The boy leaned over and whispered, “Hi, Rhett. I’m Link.”

“Hi, Link.” For whatever reason, Rhett had the feeling he’d known Link for a long time. And like maybe they could be best friends.

“Hi, Rhett,” Link repeated. Yeah. They were going to be friends.

Rhett sat by the Cape Fear River and took Link’s hand in his, and he smiled when Link leaned his head on his shoulder. “You ever think about past lives?” Link asked.

“Like if they’re real, or if we had some?”

“Both, I guess,” Link shrugged. “You think we ever knew each other?”

Rhett thought about their connection and about his thoughts in first grade, that they’d known each other for a long time, that he recognized those blue eyes for whatever reason, and he smiled to himself. “Yeah. I think we probably did.”

“I hope we knew each other in every life,” Link said.

Rhett turned and kissed his hair. “Link, somehow I think we’ve always known each other somehow or another. Like two halves of a whole. We’re meant for the same universe.”

Link smiled. “Do you think we’ll be together in the next life?”

“I think we still have an awful lot of this life to live,” Rhett told him. “We’re gonna make something big. Maybe get married. Have kids. All that. We got a lot of time to go before the next life,” he said again.

“Yeah. You’re right,” Link said. “I hope it’s not the end of the story still, when that ends.”

Rhett smiled, pulling Link into his lap. “It won’t be.” He smiled, tickling Link and shoving him into the water below, jumping in after him. As soon as he sank under the water, he let his mind wander to the possibilities, and he knew for certain that they’d be together in every life.

When Link looked at him, he could tell Link knew too.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it's clear this is not in any way meant to glorify teen suicide. If you're in the US and struggling, you can find help from the AFSP at 1-800-273-8255 or if you're an LGBTQ+ person struggling, you can reach out to the Trevor Project. If you're in another country, you can find your local suicide hotline here: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html


End file.
